Total extends offer for SunPower by two weeks

PARIS (Reuters) - French oil company Total has extended its offer to buy up to 60 percent of U.S. solar company SunPower Corp by two weeks after consultations with European regulators led to a delay.

The offer will now expire on June 14, Total said on Wednesday, adding it has carried out a number of consultations with the European Commission before filing documents related to the takeover on Tuesday.

"Such a pre-filing consultation tends to make the decision-making process at the European Commission faster and easier and allow for an efficient process within the time allocated," a spokesman said. Total said in April it was offering $1.37 billion for a majority stake in SunPower, marking one of the biggest renewable energy moves by an oil and gas company.

Total shares were down 0.9 percent at 39.10 euros by 4:12 a.m. EDT, compared with a 0.6 percent fall in the French blue-chip CAC 40 index.

(Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Christian Plumb and Dan Lalor)